Ventura County Rep. Julia Brownley: Biden 'will make the right choice for our country'

The list of congressional representatives from President Joe Biden's own party who have publicly urged him to quit the race drew close to 20 by Friday afternoon, but Ventura County's two Democratic U.S. House members are not among them.

Ventura County is primarily represented in the U.S. House of Representatives by two Democrats: Salud Carbajal, whose district includes Santa Barbara County, Ventura and the Ojai Valley; and Julia Brownley, who represents the rest of Ventura County and small portions of Los Angeles County.

Spokespeople for Carbajal and Brownley both said the representatives were unavailable for interviews Friday about whether they think Biden should drop out. Both provided statements supportive of Biden, though Brownley's statement did not directly address whether he should stay in the race.

"Ultimately, I know President Biden will make the right choice for our country," Brownley said in a statement her office provided to The Star.

Carbajal's spokesperson pointed to a July 9 post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which Carbajal listed some of Biden's accomplishments and said the president "has the back of the Central Coast."

"That's why I have his back for #4MoreYears!" Carbajal wrote.

The statement provided by Brownley's office read, in full:

"President Biden has been a great president, and he would be a great president in a second term. By contrast, Donald Trump would dismantle our democracy, strip women of their already eroding rights, destroy our progress in combating climate change, and hand Ukraine to a war criminal. He is also a convicted felon, and he has blatant disregard for the rule of law. For the sake of the future of our democracy, Trump simply cannot win. Ultimately, I know President Biden will make the right choice for our country."

Brownley was traveling Friday and was unavailable to answer questions about what she thinks the right choice would be.

Biden is 81 and will turn 82 shortly after the November election. Calls for him to step aside and be replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris or another candidate began to build after Biden's rocky debate performance on June 27. In a poll conducted between July 5 and July 9, 56% of Democrats surveyed said they wanted Biden to drop out.

Biden performed better at a news conference Thursday in which he vowed to stay in the race, but he made a few noticeable gaffes, including referring to Harris as "Vice President Trump." Hours earlier, Biden called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country is fighting an invasion from Vladimir Putin's Russia, "President Putin."

According to USA Today, 18 Democrats in the House of Representatives and one Democratic Senator have publicly called on Biden to drop out, along with some high-profile state-level elected officials, major Democratic donors and other political figures. The only members of California's congressional delegation on that list are Mike Levin and Scott Peters, both representatives from San Diego County.

Tony Biasotti is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tbiasotti@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation's Fund to Support Local Journalism.